Gary Fleder Biography

A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Fleder graduated summa cum laude from Boston University's College of Communications (where he met and befriended future
screenwriter, Scott Rosenberg) and completed his master's degree in film production at USC in 1991, where he won the prestigious John Huston Directing Scholarship.

His student short Terminal Round was an 8-minute look into boxing, which appeared at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 1988. His USC thesis project
Air Time, about an ex-con threatening a late-night radio talk show psychologist, opened eyes to his talent at the 1992 Sundance Festival. A year later, Fleder returned to the world of boxing with Animal Instinct, a
documentary on light-heavyweight boxer Phil Paolina. This film also premiered at Sundance.

Fleder started working in television directing two episodes of the Tales From the Crypt series, both of which were written by university chum, Rosenberg.
He then helmed the TV sci-fi movie The Companion, which focused on the tumultuous relationship between a successful romance novelist and her android companion.

By the mid-'90s, Fleder made his first move to the big screen with his feature directing debut, Rosenberg's darkly comic Things to Do in Denver
When You're Dead (1995). The studio was so impressed that Fleder was signed to a two-year, first-look development deal. His second film, the dark, moody thriller Kiss the Girls (1997), was soon followed by more
television work such as the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon and the
series Falcone.